Soccer: Northside Falls; Greenwood Advances To Title Match

Sunday

May 18, 2014 at 3:13 AM

FAYETTEVILLE — There wasn’t a single game Northside didn’t control this season. The Grizzlies were better at maintaining possession, better at finishing their chances. It was no different in Saturday’s 7A State Tournament semifinal.

FAYETTEVILLE — There wasn’t a single game Northside didn’t control this season. The Grizzlies were better at maintaining possession, better at finishing their chances. It was no different in Saturday’s 7A State Tournament semifinal.

For all its domination, however, Northside’s lone mistake was decisive.

A misplayed back-pass led to a Har-Ber corner kick in the 51st minute and the Wildcats, with just their second shot on-target, scored off the kick to the near post. That forced Northside into an all-out attack. With nearly every Northside player pushing up to draw even, a counter attack sealed the Wildcats’ place in the state championship, 2-0.

Northside had a throw-in in its own half in the 50th minute. A single Har-Ber striker was nearby to provide cursory pressure. The throw was executed and the defender cleanly fielded it, but he didn’t turn to face his goalkeeper before passing. Instead he pivoted while passing and the ball went over the goal line for a Har-Ber corner. Cole Brothers sent the kick short and low, it found Raul Umana and the Wildcats’ forward deflected it enough to tuck it beyond Erick Hernandez in net.

That was all that went wrong for the defending state champions. That was enough.

"We are a relatively young team and I knew that eventually it was going to affect us at one point," Northside coach Mauricio Maciel said. "I’m proud of the way we bounced back after that mistake. We kept possession. We kept the other team on their heels. And unluckily for us, the goal did not come."

Har-Ber didn’t bother with any more build-up. Nine of 10 outfield players dropped behind the ball on the Northside attack and the Wildcats planted themselves in front of keeper Ben O’Brien. Clearances were booted long and far. Possession was secondary to protection.

One of those lengthy clearances found the feet of Brothers beyond midfield. He had a lone defender and Hernandez to beat and he played a knock-on to his right. As Hernandez came out of goal to cut the angle, Brothers nicked just enough of the ball to slot it beyond both the defender and keeper for insurance in the 69th minute.

The Wildcats defense, which was their weakest link entering the tournament, kept O’Brien from having to make the acrobatic saves he had in the first half. Little came through to him.

"We were just giving up too many goals this year. Once we corrected that, I felt like we’d only need one or two to win a game," Har-Ber coach Elson Medina said. "We felt like we’ve corrected it so far."

Medina moved forward Josh Rhodes and Carillo Cristian to defense to bolster the back-line. Technical skill was sacrificed for strength and ball-winning against the most dominant offense in the classification.

Things were dicey in the opening 40 minutes as Northside forced O’Brien into a number of dynamic saves. Most Northside chances came from Sam Iraburo on the left half. Iraburo’s curled ball from just outside the 18-yard box in the 16th minute was the game’s first shot on-goal. O’Brien dove to his left and punched the ball beyond goal for a corner and Iraburo’s ensuing header missed the mark.

The Grizzlies’ two best opportunities came from Iraburo again in the 33rd and 40th minutes. The first time Iraburo found an early cross seven yards from goal but couldn’t angle his head low enough to keep the ball down. It sailed inches above the crossbar. In the 40th, he turned and fired from just inside the box, forcing another O’Brien diving stop. The rebound came out the other side, but the Northside attacker was marked closely enough to force a wide follow attempt.

Once the first goal came, those clear looks at net were gone.

"In this game, a lot of times, that’s the strategy you need to take," Maciel said. "They knew they offensive power we have. it was very smart on their part to drop everybody back and defend that lead."

Har-Ber is the first No. 6-seed to make the state final.

6A

Matt Mahan scored seconds before the halftime whistle to lift Greenwood to the 6A State Championship, 1-0, past Jonesboro.

The Bulldogs will play Russellville in the final Friday at 8 p.m. at University of Arkansas Razorback Field.

Mahan’s goal came only a few minutes after Jonesboro stopped a Greenwood penalty shot. Other teams have employed a set-up-shop mentality after going ahead in the playoffs. Greenwood kept trying for more.

"It was a pretty even game," Greenwood coach Andrew Post said. "You knew it was going to be a one-goal game. Traded chances. Tough little battle. Fortunately our defense held tight and (goal keeper) Baylee Moore was his traditional self."

Greenwood split its season series against Russellville in 7A/6A Central play, with the Bulldogs winning a 1-0 in the front-half of the schedule and Russellville taking the second, 3-1.

The championship will be Greenwood’s first soccer state final in school history for boys or girls.

4A

Subiaco Academy’s season ended almost the same way it did last year.

The Trojans lost, 2-1, to the team that eliminated them from the postseason last year, Valley View.

Subiaco scored first just 11 minutes into the game, but just before halftime, Jun Woo Phang, the Trojans’ sweeper was injured on a slide tackle. He blacked out, coach Annette Dunham said, and had to leave the game with a concussion.

Valley View took advantage in the second half, notching its two goals and holding off a final Subiaco charge.

"It made it a different game without Jun," Dunham said. "We gave it a great effort. These guys won a district title and their first game and had a heck of a second-round game in the state tournament. A lot to be proud of."